Locals flee town ahead of Syrian assault

Syrian refugees have been fleeing to Turkey as the al-Assad government continues to use a heavy hand against protesters.

Mustafa Ozer: AFP

Another bloody crackdown is on the cards in Syria, with troops reportedly preparing to attack a town in the country's north where scores of police and soldiers were killed earlier in the week.

Syrian refugees are fleeing in panic into Turkey after the Syrian regime threatened to retaliate with force against what it said were the "armed gangs" responsible for the "massacre" in the northern town of Jisr al-Shugur.

The flow of refugees across the borders into Turkey and Lebanon has increased in recent days after reports of the massacre at Jisr al-Shugur.

"They poisoned the water, they killed our children," said one woman near the border crossing. "God curse [president Bashar al-Assad] and his family. I hope he dies."

Exactly what the refugees are fleeing is not entirely clear, with a string of differing reports on the violence.

Syrian state television has said armed gangs attacked and killed 120 police and troops on Monday, mutilating their bodies and throwing some of them into a river. It has broadcast pictures of some of the bodies lined up along a road.

Other reports suggest civilians have taken up arms and that what is happening at Jisr al-Shugur could be the start of an armed uprising against the Syrian regime.

But still other reports, including one from resident Ahmed, claim the dead men were shot by the army itself either for defecting to join the civilian protesters or for disobeying orders to shoot civilians.

"I can guarantee we have numbers of soldiers who have actually defected from the army. We have their names, we have their numbers. They have joined the rebels, they have joined the protesters," said Ahmed.

Government retaliation

The Syrian government has warned it plans to hit back with force and in the past 12 hours a convoy of army vehicles was seen heading north in the direction of Jisr al-Shugur.

Residents took to the streets in protest, demanding the army stay away. They have even set up roadblocks to try to stop them entering the town. Those who have not fled now fear the worst.

"We don't want the army to come to us", said one woman. "They killed our youths. Four of my cousins were killed and my two sons are injured."

The worsening violence has again shocked the international community. France and Britain have drafted a resolution at the UN Security Council in New York condemning the latest crackdown and calling for even tougher sanctions against the Syrian regime.

But Russia and China are almost certain to veto the plan. Britain's prime minister David Cameron says any nation that votes against that resolution or tries to veto it would have to wear the decision on their conscience.

Britain and France have drawn up a new version of a resolution already sent to other members of the 15-nation council hoping to sway countries that had opposed an older one.

The resolution calls for vigilance on arms supplies to the al-Assad regime, demands Syria's cooperation with a UN Human Rights Council investigation, and calls for the release of prisoners of conscience, said a diplomat on condition of anonymity.

Sanctions or not, it will not make much difference to the residents of Jisr al-Shugur, most of whom have now fled the town ahead of the looming military assault.